As the battle over Internet sweepstakes cafes in Ohio heats up again, the line between making the law and enforcing it is becoming slightly blurred.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Deena Calabrese disqualified Assistant Prosecuting Attorney James May from the state’s case against VS2 Worldwide Communications. The company is charged with gambling, racketeering and money laundering for supplying game software to Cleveland-area cafes, The Plain Dealerreported.

May met with a casino lobbyist before testifying before an Ohio Senate committee in December about proposed legislation to effectively ban the cafes in the state, including comments suggesting the defendants in the VS2 case “were guilty as charged,” according to Calabrese’s Feb. 7 motion.

Calabrese disqualified May in order to protect the defendants’ due process rights and to “prevent even the appearance of impropriety” in the court case.

The motion came less than a week before Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told a House committee he supports House Bill 7, a refreshed version of the stiff regulations that would effectively put the cafes out of business.

DeWine said the lack of regulation and oversight combined with large amounts of cash likely means the cafes can harbor organized crime and money laundering.

Supporters say the cafes run sweepstakes — a creative marketing tool that is not gambling — and there is nothing illegal.